Although the LA GRAD Act
was originally intended to function as a beneﬁt to universities
that met certain graduation requirements, it’s more of a burden
than a reward for improving performance, higher education leaders say.
Colleges and universities that
meet the GRAD Act’s performance goals are granted authority
to raise tuition by up to 10 percent, allowing schools to bring
in more revenue, which leaders
thought would be a reward of

Board to
discuss
requests
Wed.
Staff Reports

When LSU’s NBA stars like
Shaquille O’Neal, Glen “Big Baby”
Davis or Marcus Thornton return to
campus, there is one man they seek
out.
They ﬁnd Kent Lowe on the ﬁfth
ﬂoor of the Athletic Administration
Building, where the senior associate sports information director has
worked for 25 years on the men’s
basketball beat.
“Those guys may be famous, but
they ain’t Kent-famous,” said sophomore point guard Anthony Hickey.
“He’s seen them from being kids to
being stars.”
He’s been the ﬁxture in a volatile
quarter-century for LSU basketball,
as four coaches, NCAA sanctions
and dozens of NBA players have
come and gone.
At the center of the now-calming

Students could pay
10 percent more

LAWSUIT

Alyson Gaharan

sorts for improving performance.
However, when the 2014 ﬁscal year budget was proposed, the
same amount of money institutions could earn from the act had
been removed from their respective general funds, which leaves
the University further from where
it started.
For LSU A&M, a 10 percent
tuition increase would produce an
expected $25,485,000. This price
tag, however, is not the amount of
money that would actually go toward students’ education because
the University can only collect
about 80 cents of every dollar it
receives because of scholarships
and among other programs that
cause students to pay slightly different amounts to the school.

The recommendation of
President Designate F. King Alexander has brought renewed
energy and direction to the University reorganization process
that ultimately hinges on the
leadership of the LSU president,
said SSA Consultant Christel
Slaughter.
An external opinion by a visionary leader is what the Transition Advisory Team has been
looking for, and knowing who
that leader will probably be
makes the reorganization concept
more meaningful and real than
ever before, Slaughter said.
“[Alexander] is going to be
able to bring his own thoughts to

TUITION, see page 3

REORGANIZATION, see page 3

Staff Writer

RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille

LSU System President Designate F. King
Alexander answers questions March 21
in the Union Theater.

Under the threat of lawsuit,
the LSU Board of Supervisors will
respond to multiple public records
requests seeking LSU presidential
candidates’ identities at a special
meeting Wednesday.
Daily Reveille Editor in Chief
Andrea Gallo originally told the
Board and other parties involved on
March 18 they had a week to seek
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s
opinion on the matter or face legal
action. The Board asked for a twoday reprieve Monday so it can discuss its response in an executive session at Wednesday’s meeting, said
Scott Sternberg, Gallo’s attorney.
“They’ll probably meet to discuss if they should request an attorney general’s opinion, grant our
original public records request and
whether they think our threat of
litigation is serious, which I assure
them it is,” Sternberg said.
The Board will not disclose exactly what will be discussed Wednesday because its attorneys will be
involved, according to Shelby McKenzie, LSU lead legal counsel.
“It will be an opportunity for the
Board to discuss the situation with its
attorneys,” McKenzie said.
A vote to approve LSU President Designate F. King Alexander’s appointment is also expected
Wednesday.
Gallo’s public records request
was originally denied because the
search was funded by private dollars,
following a similar denial handed to
The Advocate in February.
“If they decide to release the
names on Wednesday, then I would
say this whole thing should blow
over pretty quickly,” Gallo said.
The Society of Professional
Journalists and the Student Press
Law Center have also been paying
attention to the potential legal action.
“We’re not the only ones in this
game. There are other media organizations out there that are taking a
very hard look at what they’re doing,” Sternberg said.
Contact The Daily Reveille’s news
staff at news@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @TDR_news

The Daily Reveille

page 2

INTERNATIONAL
Haiti splashes slum with psychedelic
colors, inspired by well-known artist
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
— One of Haiti’s biggest shantytowns, a vast expanse of grim
cinderblock homes on a mountainside in the nation’s capital, is
getting a psychedelic makeover
that aims to be part art and part
homage.
Workers this month began
painting the concrete facades of
buildings in Jalousie slum a rainbow of purple, peach, lime and
cream, inspired by the dazzling
“cities-in-the-skies” of wellknown Haitian painter Prefete
Duffaut, who died last year.
Belgium’s chocolate stamps offer
postage for people with a sweet tooth
BRUSSELS (AP) — Feel like
having chocolate at Easter in Belgium? Well, send a letter and really lick that chocolate-ﬂavored
postal stamp.
The Belgian post ofﬁce
released 538,000 stamps on
Monday that have pictures of
chocolate on the front but the
essence of cacao oil in the glue
at the back for taste and in the ink
for smell.
Belgian stamp collector Marie-Claire Verstichel said while
the taste was a bit disappointing,
“they smell good.”

Nation & World

DIEU NALIO CHERY / The Associated Press

Homes painted in bright colors cover a
hill March 21 in Jalousie, a cinder block
shantytown in Petionville, Haiti.

Israelis get kosher cigarettes for
Passover for first time in history
JERUSALEM (AP) — Observant
Jews in Israel craving a smoke
during the weeklong Passover
holiday that starts at sundown
Monday can now enjoy a rabbiapproved puff.
It’s the ﬁrst time cigarettes have joined the long list
of goods stringently checked to
ensure they comply with Passover rules on what items are allowed, or kosher for the holiday
— meaning they have not come
in contact with grains or other
forbidden ingredients.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

NATIONAL

STATE/LOCAL

Woman gets prison time in ‘total
identity theft’ of Texas teacher

Weekly unemployment claims drops
to lowest level since March 2008

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — For almost 12 years, a Houston elementary school teacher and an illegal
immigrant living in Topeka have
engaged in a tug of war to claim the
identity of Candida L. Gutierrez.
On Monday, the real Candida L. Gutierrez saw her identity
thief, Benita Cardona-Gonzalez,
for the ﬁrst time. Their encounter
came inside a federal courtroom in
Wichita, where Cardona-Gonzalez,
a Mexican national, was sentenced
to 18 months in prison for possessing fraudulent identiﬁcation
documents.
Girl, 9, braves cold and coyotes, walks
to get help after crash kills dad

Man gets 18 years in Seattle terror
plot to attack military complex

(AP) — First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending March
16 decreased from the previous
week’s total.
The state labor department
ﬁgures released Monday show
the initial claims dropped to 1,889
from the previous week’s total
of 2,860. This is the lowest level
since March 22, 2008, when initial claims were at 1,862. A decrease in the construction, health
care and social assistance sectors
contributed to the lower overall
numbers.
Initial claims were below the
comparable week a year earlier at
2,830.

SEATTLE (AP) — A man who plotted to attack a Seattle military complex with machine guns and grenades was sentenced on Monday to
18 years in prison.
Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, 35,
also was ordered by U.S. District
Court Judge James L. Robart to be
supervised for 10 years after his release.
Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, pleaded guilty
last December to conspiracy to murder U.S. ofﬁcers and conspiracy to
use weapons of mass destruction.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Lessons
learned from Hurricane Sandy about
how best to limit damage to buildings closely track those of Katrina, a
federal engineer said Monday.
John Ingargiola, a structural
engineer for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, said the ﬁnal report on Sandy is scheduled
in the fall. But FEMA is releasing
seven advisories for rebuilding and
minimizing future ﬂood damage for
new construction.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Braving the cold and coyotes, 9-yearold Celia Renteria crawled out of a
steep Southern California canyon
and walked in the desert darkness to
summon for help after crash.
With temperatures dipping into
the 40s, she hiked through rugged
terrain to a nearby home. No one answered. Then she hiked up the rocky
embankment and along the road to
a commuter rail station where she
ﬂagged down a passing motorist.
When ofﬁcers responded, they
found Celia’s father, Alejandro Renteria, 35, dead.

PAT SULLIVAN / The Associated Press

Texas school teacher Candida Gutierrez is
seen in Houston on Oct. 4, 2012. Benita
Cardona-Gonzalez is an illegal immigrant
accused of assuming Gutierrez’s identity.

Hurricanes offer similar lessons for
builders, according to FEMA engineer

Weather

PHOTO OF THE DAY

TODAY
Sunny

59 35
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

CHECK OUT

LSU

fashion
students’

BEST DESIGNS

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FRIDAY
MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille

Floppy disks are available for purchase for $1.25 through a vending machine in
Coates Hall. Submit your photo of the day to photo@lsureveille.com.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
The Daily Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest
priority and wants to reassure the reporting and content of the
paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes which may have been printed
in The Daily Reveille. If you would like something corrected or
clarified please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or email
editor@lsureveille.com.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

on stands April 8

71
46

The Daily Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced
solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Daily Reveille
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Students wary of new election
Many neglected to vote out of apathy, lack of trust
What do you think about the
STUDENTS recent
election and controversy
RESPOND:
surrounding it?

Haley Riley
psychology freshman

William Acosta
history freshman

‘Everything
that has
happened
in SG
lately has
tarnished
its
reputation.’

Kailan Age

‘Either way
this goes,
nothing I
say is going
to matter
anyway.’

chemical engineering
freshman

‘Once an election has
happened and it has
been seen that a party
did something wrong,
it changes the way the
general public perceives
that organization.’

sports administration
sophomore

Kayler Varmall

‘This is a big deal for the
students that are involved
in SG, but I don’t think
regular students really
care.’

political science
freshman

graduation rate data and is in the
process of submitting a report that
“The legislature just said, will determine if the University
‘Well, if they’re getting the in- will meet the GRAD Act stancrease in tuition, we’re going to dard.
“Our analysis is that we’re
take out the same amount,’” said
Council for a Better Louisiana going to meet the standard for the
President Barry Erwin. “So it GRAD Act and earn our autonomy,” Reeve said.
doesn’t look like
‘They’re using the
Reeve
said
a cut. They’re using the tuition as a tuition as a way to keep earning this autonomy would alway to keep from
having to cut the from having to cut the low the University
budget
further, budget further, but it’s to raise tuition in
the fall, although
but it’s still a cut.”
still a cut.’
no decision has
The
2014
been made yet.
fiscal year exBarry Erwin
“We have to
ecutive
budget
President, Council for a Better
be granted the auprotects funding
Louisiana
thority and then
to campuses and
features no change in total fund- have to make the decision to do
ing for higher education schools, so,” Reeve said.
Although the University has
Michael DiResto, assistant commissioner for policy and commu- not officially raised tuition by 10
nications within the Division of percent, the budget assumes the
University will make that move
Administration, said in an email.
Erwin said although the bud- to produce the funds. If the Uniget does not appear to have re- versity does not raise that money
ceived a cut, the tuition swap is by increasing tuition, it would esstill a cut, regardless of what oth- sentially be even more of a cut,
said Director of External Affairs
ers might say.
“The reality is that despite Jason Droddy.
“Students should expect a 10
doing that, things are going on
like increased mandated costs, in- percent increase in their tuition to
creased retirement and healthcare offset these budget cuts,” Erwin
costs,” Erwin said. “Even though said. “In most schools you’ll see
it looks dollar-for-dollar when the 10 percent being added if they
you’re taking a certain amount hit their GRAD Act target.”
Students should get used to
and adding a certain amount, it
doesn’t cover those increased the reality of taking on a greater
costs the universities must under- role in paying for their education while the state assumes less
write.”
Vice Provost for Academ- responsibility every year, Erwin
ic Affairs Gil Reeve said the said.
“According to Board of
University has analyzed the

TUITION, from page 1

Taylor Trepagnier

‘Everything
going on
lately has
harmed
SG’s
reputation.’

Regents documents, in fiscal
year 2006-2007, state support for
higher education for four-year
schools was 67 percent, and the
student portion was 33 percent.
Now that’s totally flipped. Right
now, the state pays 34 percent and
students, technically self-generated funds, are at 66 percent,” Erwin said. “Basically you’ve gone
from two-thirds one way to twothirds the other way. And this is a
fast turn-around.”
LSU System CFO Wendy
Simoneaux said this use of the
GRAD Act is contrary to the act’s
original purpose.
“The GRAD Act was not
meant to supplant state support.
It was meant to give our institutions more funding,” Simoneaux
said. “We thought the intention
would be to help, but this funding
method is really contrary to the
intent. Why they did that and who
did that, you’d have to ask them.”
Contact Alyson Gaharan at
agaharan@lsureveille.com

page 3
REORGANIZATION, from page 1

the mix,” Slaughter said. “When
he sees our skills and where
we’re lacking, he can help figure
out what our priorities should be
and where to direct resources.”
Slaughter said this new perspective is essential to the process that officially began with
the Transition Advisory Team
kickoff meeting Jan. 8, which
has grown since then to include
five subcommittees, a Legal and
Regulatory Advisory Group and
six task forces that, together, total a team of about 100 who have
been working to discern the best
direction for the University.
“We’re excited to hear about
what his vision is and what he
wants to focus on,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Stuart Bell. “I think he’s going to
be listening to the students and
different campuses about how
they see our current situation.”
Alexander said he expects to
assume the presidency the first
week of July, amid the reorganization and a challenging budget
situation that has spread the University’s resources thin.
Prioritizing students, research and public service are
just a few of Alexander’s focuses
when it comes to the reorganization, but he also said the University and state administration need
to work together to increase the
University’s status as a valuable
state asset.
Alexander said higher education can be a force that creates opportunities and improves the state
economy by producing graduates
with degrees who will contribute

to the Louisiana workforce. This
plan will help the state regain
some ground it has lost in recent
years, he said.
“[The reorganization] has a
lot of potential,” Alexander said.
“I think we should work together
to address weaknesses.”
Alexander said thriving
higher education can contribute
to the Louisiana economy and
vice versa.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,”
Alexander said.
Although Alexander doesn’t
have a specific vision yet, he said
he is excited to learn as much as
he can and be a part of the process.
Slaughter said Alexander’s
ideas will provide a fresh perspective for the Transition Advisory Team.
“When you get hired as a
new president like this, you have
an advantage because you’re
coming from the outside and
aren’t locked into any framework
about how things need to be,”
Slaughter said. “It allows you to
think big and broadly about what
the University could be.”
Bell said he was excited to
work with Alexander and usher
the University into a new chapter
of success, despite the challenges
that lie ahead.
“[Alexander’s] success will
lend itself to the challenges and
opportunity that we have,” Bell
said. “There are a lot of moving
parts right now, but we’re going
to work together.”
Contact Alyson Gaharan at
agaharan@lsureveille.com

DO YOU HAVE AN OCCURRENCE?
Call Sam at the Student
Media Office
578-6090, 9AM- 5PM or
E-mail: admanager@tigers.lsu.edu

page 4
LOWE, from page 1

storm sits Lowe, a behind-thescenes liaison who has achieved
a trace of inadvertent fame thanks
to the Internet, the same medium
that has overhauled his job in the
last decade.
His face — squirrely but
charismatic, once mustachioed
but always spectacled — is printed on a T-shirt that made rounds
among media outlets as far away
as the California coastline.
It was plastered on a poster in the student section for
LSU’s home finale against Ole
Miss.
That mug is annually carved
into a Halloween pumpkin that
greets visitors to the Athletic Department’s fifth floor. A photo of
it was shared on Twitter last October to throngs of giggles.
But the man Shaq labeled
“the sexiest man in Baton Rouge”
isn’t interested in glamour at the
moment.
Two hours before LSU’s
exhilarating 97-94 triple-overtime win against Alabama last
month, Lowe was doing the grunt
work.
He was preparing stat sheets,
monitoring arena preparations
and juggling demanding broadcasters while awaiting ESPN
College Gameday’s profile on
LSU center Andrew Del Piero’s
brassy past.
Seventy-hour work weeks
and head-on-a-swivel responsibilities are now intrinsic to Lowe.
“It’s the nature of the

The Daily Reveille

As an only child, unmarried
so-called beast,” he said. “I’m
big on saying, ‘The show was and with both parents deceased,
good tonight.’ Much of what we Lowe has become more “mardo is basically lowering the cur- ried to the job” because of the
tain and presenting the show that moment’s-notice social media
style.
is the game.”
It’s only fitting because withThe job’s arduous requirements have aided Lowe’s propen- in the Athletic Department, Kent
sity for cursing, extra-large Diet is kin.
The family talk isn’t lip serCokes, frantic hand motions and
vice. Lowe is godfather to Ashigh blood pressure.
The wear and tear is seen in sistant Athletic Director Michael
weary lines around his eyes and Bonnette’s youngest son, Max,
heard through his rhythmic, peri- and a familiar face at Bonnette
holiday dinners.
odic sighs.
“I can’t even describe what
There are brief moments
when he thinks it’s time to move he means to me,” Bonnette said,
on, to clear the way for someone who was a student worker for
who hasn’t cut down a net after Lowe two decades ago. “Everywhere you go
LSU made a Final
Four, for a young- ‘Every morning I wake around the SEC,
ster who wouldn’t up, the job still excites I’m asked, ‘How’s
Kent doing?’ He’s
even
rememand challenges me.’ cared for by so
ber
legendary
many.”
LSU coach Dale
Kent Lowe
And
Lowe
Brown.
LSU senior associate sports
really treats his
“There’ll be
acquaintances as
a time to relax,”
information director
family. For playLowe said. “Every morning I wake up, the job ers, he’s a respected father figure.
For younger co-workers, he’s the
still excites and challenges me.”
That challenge has involved older brother or quirky uncle.
LSU Associate Sports InTwitter, Facebook and the like,
all far removed from the crawl formation Director Bill Martin
of information when Lowe first worked under Lowe as a student
for five years. He has more Facestarted the job.
He’s slowly adjusted — an book pictures with Kent than any
iPad is constantly by Lowe’s other person and calls him “my
side — but it’s still a long way dad at work.”
“When I graduated from
from the TeleRam-style computer that Lowe plugged into LSU [in 2007] and worked at
a phone line to send stories 30 Florida, Kent checked up on
years ago when he wrote for The me every week,” Martin said.
“He’s the first one with a text
Shreveport Times.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
of congratulations or support.
I can’t imagine this athletic
department functioning without
him. It would be very dull.”
Lowe, also an avid bowler and the women’s golf SID,
said Lady Tigers coach Karen
Bahnsen is “practically a sister” and always looking out for
him.
That care didn’t work out so
well once.
At LSU women’s golf
tournaments,
Lowe
usually
consumed Diet Cokes and
cookies.
One round, Bahnsen pushed
a healthier option: peanut butter
crackers. Soon after, Lowe discovered he was allergic to seafood, blue cheese and, of course,
peanuts. Bahnsen was his first
phone call with the news, Lowe
laughingly recalled.
Lowe is used to punchlines,
especially from the minor fame
he now enjoys. Some of it is
good-natured ribbing, some of
it admiration. None of it bothers
him.
“Better to be thought of than
ignored,” Lowe said. “It’s flattering. I’m easy to make fun of. I’ve
got the poor fat man’s face with
the bad teeth.”
First-year LSU coach Johnny
Jones considers Kent “not just an
SID, but a friend.” Jones’ hiring
last April was a full-circle experience for Lowe.
Lowe, then a graduate student, covered Jones during his
playing days in the early 1980s.
When Lowe accepted the men’s

basketball job in 1988, Jones was
in the middle of a 12-year stint as
LSU’s assistant coach.
“He’s been a bedrock of this
program back to when Dale was
here,” Jones said. “Kent’s seen it
all.”
That is, until the Feb. 23
game against Alabama, when
LSU stormed back from 10
points down, winning the first
triple-overtime game in PMAC
history.
As Lowe passed out stat
sheets before the final period, everyone’s faces — from the players’ to the media’s to the fans’ —
wore exhaustion. Except Lowe’s,
which remained conspicuously
calm.
Perhaps 10 years ago, a
meltdown may have been imminent with such a tense game
still undecided. Now, though,
Lowe’s face was beaming, part
childish joy and part parental
pride.
“My job is the toy department of the world,” Lowe said.
“There are times it’s disgusting
or devastating to write about
something, but then there’s moments where you get to meet
John Wooden or Shaq wears your
glasses. I wouldn’t trade anything for the last 25 years. LSU
and I have made a damn good
life together.”

The glaring lights hovering
ominously above Alex Box Stadium have watched LSU baseball
seasons come and go.
They
are
ﬁlled
with
memories of the magic with
which the grounds have become
so entangled.
After the past four years,
those guardian lights could tell
the story of LSU senior ﬁrst
baseman Mason Katz and his
journey through life on Skip
Bertman Drive.
Or, the bill of Katz’s baseball cap could tell the stories the
lights cannot.
Four sentiments are scrawled
above Katz’s face each time
he steps from the dugout: a
cross, to symbolize his faith and
spirituality; “Omaha 2013” to
always remind him of the ultimate goal; “One team, one
goal,” a motto used by the LSU
baseball team; and ﬁnally, the
name “Hippo.”
Before Katz’s inaugural
season in purple and gold, tragedy struck the Katz family when
Mason’s grandfather Maurice
suddenly passed away from a
heart attack.
Everyone who knew Maurice referred to him as Hippo.
“Unfortunately he passed
before he was able to get to see
me play here,” Mason said. “He
was so proud of me, and he’d
go around telling everybody. He
was never shy about it. He’d go
around telling everybody that his
grandson was coming here.”
Mason’s father, Billy, described his late father as Mason’s biggest fan. Maurice
never missed a game while his
KATZ, see page 7

LSU faces
Penn State
in NCAA
rematch
Lady Lions won in
second round in 2012
Bria Turner
Sports Contributor

The NCAA second-round rematch tonight between LSU and
Penn State in the PMAC may cultivate a sense of déjà vu for spectators, but for teams involved, everything has changed.
“The area is familiar, but we
are two different teams now from
last year,” said Penn State senior
guard Alex Bentley. “LSU has
changed, we have changed, so it’s
a whole different ballgame now.”
LSU (21-11, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) suffered a 10-point
loss to Penn State in the PMAC a
year ago, where ﬁve Lady Tigers
ﬁnished with double-digit scoring.
LSU couldn’t overcome Maggie
Lucas’ game-high 30 points and
being out-rebounded 49 to 35.
Bentley is right; LSU is a different team from a year ago. Since
the tournament loss, junior forward
Theresa Plaisance has emerged as
an All-SEC standout and the Lady
Tigers’ roster dwindled from 13
players to eight.
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell
LADY TIGERS, see page 8

How far do you think
the Lady Tigers will make it
in the NCAA Tournament?
Vote in our poll at
lsureveille.com.

BASEBALL

Tigers to meet Tulane on the road
Chandler Rome
Sports Writer

LAUREN DUHON / The Daily Reveille

LSU freshman pitcher Russell Reynolds (45) pitches the ball Wednesday during
the Tigers’ 2-1 victory against Northwestern State University at Alex Box Stadium.

While Louisiana’s unpredictable weather may be throwing a
curveball, LSU coach Paul Mainieri has been through the meteorlogical gauntlet.
Coaching 18 years in extreme cold weather environments
at Air Force and Notre Dame,
Mainieri isn’t fazed by the current cold snap affecting the state
as his
No. 4 Tigers travel to
Turchin Stadium in New Orleans
to take on Tulane at 6:30 p.m.
tonight.
“It’s not the most fun thing in

the world to do,” Mainieri said.
“We’ve had an unseasonably cold
early season in Baton Rouge. …
I don’t think our kids even think
about the weather or worry about
the weather.”
With a weekend series in
frigid Columbia, Mo., awaiting LSU (22-2, 5-1 Southeastern
Conference), tonight’s hourlong
trip down I-10 serves as a frosty
precursor against a traditional instate rival.
Freshman righty Russell
Reynolds will start for the Tigers,
facing off against Tulane southpaw and fellow Parkview Baptist
alumnus Brady Wilson.

Reynolds, who ﬁred ﬁve
shutout innings while surrendering only three hits in a 2-1 victory
against Northwestern State last
Wednesday, will open his thirdstraight midweek game.
“It’s his ballgame,” Mainieri
said. “As long as he’s pitching
effectively and his pitch count is
within a reasonable amount, he’ll
be the pitcher. However far he can
go will be great.”
Mainieri said he has no speciﬁc pitchers needing work tonight, leading to a longer leash
on Reynolds, but his focus
TULANE, see page 8

The Daily Reveille

page 6

MEN’S GOLF

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tigers lead Hootie at
Bulls Bay tournament

Second round play
postponed Monday
James Moran
Sports Contributor

The No. 14 LSU men’s golf
team leads the Hootie at Bulls
Bay Intercollegiate after play was
postponed due to darkness during
the second round on Monday.
All five participating Tigers
finished their two rounds with a
combined score of 13-over 598.
That left LSU with a one-shot
lead over No. 9 Duke, but six of
the 15 teams in the field have yet
to complete their second rounds.
Junior Andrew Presley shot
1-under 143 through two rounds
to finish the day in third place after shooting 1-under 71 in the first

round and even-par in the second
round. He is one stroke behind
North Carolina State junior Albin
Choi and Duke freshman Mads
Soegaard.
Sophomores Stewart Jolly
and Curtis Thompson are tied
for 16th after finishing the day at
5-over.
Freshman Zach Wright is
one stroke behind them at 6-over,
good for a tie for 20th overall.
Sophomore Myles Lewis posted
rounds of 6-over and 3-over to
finish the day in a tie for 35th.
The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m. today. with the
final round scheduled to begin
immediately afterward.

Contact James Moran at
jmoran@lsureveille.com

TAYLOR BALKOM / The Daily Reveille

LSU junior Andrew Presley putts Oct. 7,
2012, at the David Toms Intercollegiate
at the University Club Golf Course.
The No. 14 Tigers currently lead the
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate
tournament after the second round was
postponed Monday.

SOFTBALL

LSU hopes to rebound after loss
Spencer Hutchinson

LSU

Sports Contributor

After ending its nine-game
winning streak Sunday with a
4-1 loss to South Carolina, the
LSU softball team will be back
to work today attempting to start
another streak.
The Tigers (27-6, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) will meet
in-state opponent Southeastern
Louisiana (18-10, 5-4 Southland Conference) in a midweek
matchup at 6 p.m. in Tiger Park,
as they attempt to rebound from
their second SEC loss of the season.
The No. 13 Lady Tigers enter
a two-week hiatus from their SEC
schedule, with their next conference series not coming until a
trip to Arkansas beginning April
5. But in the meantime, LSU will
take on a gauntlet of non-conference opponents including newly
ranked No. 25 South Alabama
and Atlantic Coast Conference
foe Florida State.
“These midweek games are
going to give us the momentum
for our next series,” said freshman catcher Kellsi Kloss. “We
have Arkansas in two weeks, and
we need to get ready for that. We
just need to get some runs on the
board for sure, and our pitching
will be stellar.”
LSU took the first two games
in its series with South Carolina last weekend, but the Tigers
couldn’t complete the sweep, as
the Gamecocks roughed up senior ace pitcher Rachele Fico
with four runs. Fico received her
fourth loss of the season and her
first dropped decision in SEC
play.
After Sunday’s loss, LSU
coach Beth Torina said Fico
is going to have poor outings

ORDER
YOUR

MORGAN SEARLES / The Daily Reveille

LSU senior pitcher Rachele Fico pitches the ball Sunday during the 1-4 loss against
South Carolina in Tiger Park.

sometimes, but when she does,
the Tigers’ offense has to provide
more run support for her.
LSU managed only one run
in support of Fico, but the Tigers
missed multiple opportunities to
add more, stranding seven baserunners throughout the game.
Capitalizing on similar opportunities will be key for the Tigers
going forward, Torina said.
“All of us needed to pick
[Fico] up a little bit, and we didn’t
give it to her,” Kloss said. “Maybe that reflected on her a little bit.
But she always does good, and I
know next time she’ll be coming
right out and sitting them down.”
Southeastern enters today’s
game having lost two of three
in a Southland Conference series against league leader McNeese State. The Lady Lions are
1-17 all-time against LSU, and

they have never bested the Tigers
away from home. The Lady Lions’ only victory against the Tigers came in 2007 in a 1-0 win in
Hammond.
Despite LSU’s history of
success against Southeastern,
Torina said the Tigers can never
take an in-state opponent lightly
because they will always have
motivation to topple the state’s
flagship program.
“Everybody brings their A
game when they come to play
us,” Torina said. “We have a big
bull’s-eye on our back when we
play any [in-state] teams.”

Contact Spencer Hutchinson at
shutchinson@lsureveille.com

yearbook
TODAY
lsugumbo.com

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

page 7

of fighting for playing time
on a team fresh off a 2009
grandson played for Jesuit High national championship win.
Mainieri described Mason
School in New Orleans, where
Mason competed in a Louisiana as a humble superstar, a hard
High School State Champion- worker on the field who only
wants the best for his school and
ship.
According to Billy, if Mason team.
“That’s the most important
hit two home runs, his grandfaleadership of all,”
ther would tell
Mainieri
said.
people he hit 10.
‘[My grandfather]
“He’s somewhat
His family dewas so proud of me, vocal, but he
scribed this as the
“Hippo factor,”
and he’d go around doesn’t have to
be vocal to be a
an
exaggerated
account from a telling everybody. He leader. He’s just
dedicated grand- was never shy about it. one of those kids
everybody loves
parent.
“After every He’d go around telling because he works
hard and he’s
game, if I hit a
everybody that his
dedicated to the
home run, he’d
be like, ‘I knew grandson was coming team.”
The
first
you were going
here.’
baseman and his
to do that,’” Macoach said they
son joked. “[If he
Mason Katz
occasionally enwere still alive]
LSU first baseman
gage in what
he would act like
it’s no big deal, but he’d be su- Mainieri called “very frank conper proud and tell me how fun it versations” about the pulse of the
is being out here watching every team.
Mason applauded Mainieri
day and how it’s a dream come
true not only for me, but for him for his honest style of coaching
even if the things he has to say
as well.”
Maurice never got to see his aren’t what the player wants to
grandson don a collegiate uniform like he did for his son who
played in the outfield at Tulane,
but Mason knows his late grandfather is watching him play from
wherever he is.
Mason said he thinks about
his grandfather every time he
takes the field.
Billy said he believes his
father would have been screaming for LSU coach Paul Mainieri to play his grandson more in
his younger seasons and would
be saying “I told you so,” now
that Mason’s talents have fully
bloomed.
While the team engages in
a group prayer before each day,
Mason takes a moment to talk to
his biggest fan.
“I tell him I love him and I
wish he could be here in person,” Mason said. “But I know
he’s been watching over me
for my whole career. … I can’t
thank him enough for everything he did while he was here
and everything he’s done for
me in heaven. The influence he
had on me and the support he
gave me when I was growing
up has driven me every single
day.”
According to his father, Mason showed he was athletically
gifted from an early age and had
the makings of a leader while at
Jesuit.
He participated in everything from hockey to football
to golf — a sport his father said
could have gotten him to college if not for his dedication to
baseball.
But the future Tiger standout’s first love — much like his
father — would always be baseball.
“We were ecstatic [when
he got the offer],” Billy said of
his son’s signing process with
LSU. “It was his dream school.
… Knowing [his grandfather],
he probably said he signed
with the Yankees instead of the
Tigers.”
Once in Baton Rouge,
Mason had the uphill battle

KATZ, from page 5

hear, and Mason said he’s never short to return the favor to
his coach.
Mason attributes his work
ethic in part to his grandfather,
who he said was so proud of him
that it makes him want to work
harder each time he steps to the
plate.
Mason’s senior season will
be filled with lasts, and in a
few years he will become a distant memory replaced by the
newest group of athletes with
their own stories to tell the
stadium.
“It’s going to be sad,” Mason said. “I wish I could play
here forever, but all good things
come to an end, and hopefully
my career ends with a win. I’ve
had a fantastic career here and I
could’ve never imagined playing
anywhere else.”
But until the day the walls
are brought to ground, the watching lights of Alex Box will store
the memories of Mason and
his grandfather.

Contact Mike Gegenheimer at
mgegenheimer@lsureveille.com

3-25 ANSWERS

page 8
TULANE, from page 5

solely remains on winning the
game.
The batting order, however,
does need work as Mainieri looks
for both a consistent leadoff hitter and right-handed designated hitter to battle against lefthanded pitching.

LADY TIGERS, from page 5

said the key to success against
Penn State is forgetting everything
about last year.
“We cannot play the way we
did last year. We can’t rest on the
fact that we could’ve, would’ve,
should’ve,” Caldwell said. “We’ve
got to totally erase last year and
focus in on who we are today and
who we will be [today].”
Last year’s team had five seniors, a 10-game winning streak
and a runner-up finish in the SEC
Championship Tournament. This
year’s team lost three of its first
four SEC games, but ended its
regular season on a six-game wining streak that
‘This team included three
has learned to wins against
teams.
play through top-15
Caldwell
adversity, but compared her
also to smack it current team to
the Bad News
back.’
Bears,
sayNikki Caldwell ing it started
LSU head coach
off rough then
came together
and built confidence.
“This team has learned to
play through adversity, but also
to smack it back,” Caldwell said.
“That’s something that last year’s
team didn’t have to do.”
Plaisance has given LSU
diversity on offense with her
3-point shooting and her post
game. Caldwell said Plaisance has
evolved into one of the best post
players in the nation.
Penn State coach Coquese
Washington said Plaisance will be
a problem to guard because of her
versatility.
“She’s a matchup nightmare,”
Washington said. “Just what she
can do with her size at 6-5, shooting it from the outside, putting
it on the floor, creating her own
shot, creating for her teammates
and then being able to score down
low.”
LSU has played with only
eight players for the past seven
games, and after an injury to junior
guard Jeanne Kenney, the Lady Tigers may be down to seven. Kenney is questionable to play tonight,
but her ability to play is a gameday
decision.
Washington coached Notre
Dame to a national championship
with only eight players, so she said
she isn’t feeling sorry for Caldwell.
She said with all the small breaks
that come in games, the number of
Lady Tigers available won’t hold
LSU back.
“With TV timeouts and timeouts you can take, I think having
seven, eight people is plenty,”
Washington said. “I don’t think it’s
something that hinders you from
being successful.”
Contact Bria Turner at
bturner@lsureveille.com

Junior
second
baseman JaCoby Jones, replacing
sophomore
outfielder
Chris
Sciambra at the top of the order, struggled to a 1-for-13 performance in three of the Tigers’
last four games and was dropped
in the order Sunday in favor of
Sciambra.
“We just need to get that

The Daily Reveille
[leadoff] situation solidified,”
Mainieri said. “I’m really not 100
percent sure what I’m going to do
yet.”
Tulane (14-12, 2-1 Conference USA), fresh off a series win
against Memphis, is no stranger
to SEC foes as it took two of three
from Alabama in Tuscaloosa
earlier this month.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The in-state matchup marked
LSU’s first intercollegiate athletic event in 1893, the Tigers
lead the Green Wave 174-125-3
all-time and took a 5-0 victory
against the Wave last season behind eight shutout innings from
Aaron Nola.
“I have the greatest respect
for Tulane and their baseball

program,” Mainieri said. “It’s
not a good program, it’s a great
program. [The rivalry] is important for baseball in this
state.”
Contact Chandler Rome at
crome@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @Rome_TDR

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Entertainment

GIRL WARRIOR

“‘Girl Warrior’ is a very abstract term.
I think the best way to describe it is the everyday journey for a girl in her pursuit to
feel beautiful and define that for herself,”
Brandabur said.
Brandabur offers free photo shoots
WARRIOR, see page 15

In a culture where a woman’s worth
often stems from her appearance, where
the media tends to represent only a fraction
of the population’s body type as beautiful
and where entire businesses flourish from

pointing out women’s physical “flaws,” it
shouldn’t be baffling that so many ladies
are insecure about being in their own skin.
Courtney Brandabur, psychology
sophomore, is working to change that. In
February, Brandabur launched a project
titled “Girl Warrior: A Body-Positive Approach To Loving Your Beautiful Self.”

Why are
people in
love with
‘Girls’?

Since James Franco’s infamous
Huffington Post response to the first
season of “Girls,” there’s been quite
a bit of criticism
surrounding Lena
Dunham’s awardwinning HBO series. Accusations
of racism and unrealistic situations
have surrounded
the show.
REBECCA
But, the real
DOCTER
question is, why
Entertainment
are the masses
Writer
obsessed with the
disparaging concept of a group of
postgrad women wallowing in selfpity?
It seems as though every character on the show plays the victim
— Hannah can’t finish her book
because she’s having an emotional
crisis, Shoshanna can’t be with Ray
because his career aspirations aren’t
enough for her, Jessa has intense
daddy issues and so on.
The victim card wouldn’t be so
bad if the women of “Girls” would
actually do something about their
respective situations. If Dunham’s
protagonist really wanted experiences to write about, she wouldn’t
be sleeping with random men, doing lines of coke at night clubs and

‘... It is the everyday
journey for a girl in
her pursuit to feel
beautiful and define
that for herself.’

Trailer Hounds makes an additional effort to make its music heard
— through what it calls “Sunday
Porch Jams.”
On Sundays around 2 p.m.,
the echo of funk fusion can be
Rebecca Docter
heard on the corner of State and
Entertainment Writer
Tula streets in Baton Rouge.
Trailer Hounds is a band that
According to members of
lives for live performances.
Trailer Hounds, this is the most
Though the Baton Rouge effective way to get their music
funk quartet beout there. Trailer
gan
only
five
Hounds wants to
months ago, Trailer
make sure everyHounds members
one realizes its
Corey
Desselle,
unique sound.
l
a
Robert
Holden,
“We play muc
Lo band light
Joseph Lyle and
sic
that
you never
t
o
p
S
Chris Guillot have
hear around here,”
made it their misDesselle said.
sion to get their bluesy tunes into
But to get to that sound, Traillisteners’ ears.
er Hounds had to go through some
Rather than limit itself to
traditional live shows at venues,
TRAILER HOUNDS, see page 15

photos by MARIEL GATES / The Daily Reveille

[Left] Chris Guillot, keyboard player in the band Trailer Hounds, and [right] Corey Desselle, the band’s bassist, jam Sunday
during a band practice. Check out a video of Trailer Hounds at lsureveille.com.

The Daily Reveille

page 10

EVENTS

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MUSIC

Hip-hop, spoken word converge at The Library Mumford
& Sons
to play in
NOLA

Samantha Bares

Entertainment Writer

“Rhyme & Reason: A HipHop and Spoken Word Showcase” will bring together two
distinctive poetry communities
Wednesday night at The Library
at Northgate.
Co-host Joseph Coleman, a
Baton Rouge producer and organizer, has been operating under
the name Creative C.A.M.P. —
“Connecting Arts Music and Poetry” — for a year.
Coleman organizes a monthly event called Champion Sound
out of Club Culture on Oklahoma
Street, which he described as a
mixture of instrumental battles
between local producers and an
open mic night for up-and-coming emcees. Champion Sound
also features an artist from the
Baton Rouge and New Orleans
area every month.
“I’m just a facilitator for the
events I host. ... The goal is to

give everyone an outlet to express he perfected his craft through
themselves and put something participating in the local scene.
Among other spoken word
together for the Baton Rouge hiphop community, which is grow- events, like writing workshops,
open mic nights and poetry slams,
ing every day,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he looks up to Rose hosts weekly spoken word
local spoken word poet and orga- events called “Soul’d Out Sundays,” at Gathering
nizer Donney Rose,
Bohemia on Governwho took him under
Rhyme&Reason:
ment Street.
his wing almost two
What: A hip-hop and
The connecting
years ago.
thread between the
Rose, Coleman’s spoken word showcase
co-host, has been go- When: 9 p.m. Wednesday hip-hop and spoken
word communities,
ing by the name Soul
Rose said, allows
by Demand since Where: The Library at
Coleman and him to
2005, a name he says Northgate
merge old and young
explains his motivaHow much: $7
audiences and better
tion.
serve the community
“There’s a demand of events that encompass at large.
“It seems like a natural union,
a lot of creativity and energy ...
something that you feel good seeing as emcees and spoken
word artists have many similariabout coming to,” he said.
Rose, who has been writ- ties when it comes to performancing for 14 years, said he started es. I love the idea, and I can’t wait
while studying marketing at to see it go down,” performer TraSouthern University. Without vis Pickett said of the event.
Pickett
is
using
the
any formal education in poetry,

event as a comeback from a
three-year hiatus from writing
and performing. Pickett has been
writing since 2008, and a burst of
creativity at the beginning of the
year proved he is ready to delve
into the spoken word scene once
more.
He said spoken word and
hip-hop performers share wordplay techniques like alliteration
and onomatopoeia. Pickett said
he would call both emcees and
spoken word artists poets.
“Rhyme & Reason: A HipHop and Spoken Word Showcase” is the ﬁrst event of its kind,
and it starts at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Admission is $7.

‘BioShock Infinite’ vindicates gaming
THE NEW
FRONTIERSMAN
CLAYTON CROCKETT
News Editor
Today is a day of vindication
for video game nerds.
If you’re tired of defending the artistic legitimacy of
video games; tired of saying, “Trust me, this is different;” and tired of speaking to
brick walls while explaining
that video games are capable of
communicating emotional and
intellectually stimulating plots,
today’s release of Irrational
Games’s new entry “BioShock
Inﬁnite” is the turning point
we’ve been waiting for in the
dialogue surrounding the modern
video game industry.
Creative director and cofounder of Irrational Studios Ken
Levine is right when he says the

gaming market is ﬂooded with
inexpensive mobile games and
cookie-cutter war shooters, and to
coax a painful $60 out of a modern gamer, studios need to start
offering something different —
something polished and substantial in more ways than available
weapons or expansion packs.
The studio’s ﬁrst entry, “BioShock,” was praised for accomplishing what many thought was
impossible for the medium: Not
only did it feature a deep and developed storyline that before had
only been seen in novels, but it
nurtured an emotional connection
by allowing players to directly react with their environment.
Like its successor being released today, the world of “BioShock” was rife with in-depth
commentary on political philosophy and multiple subplots, as well
as one of the most clever twists in
gaming history. And it managed
to raise serious discussion on the

photo courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

This video game image released by 2K Games shows a scene from “BioShock Infinite.”

political, social and economic dynamics of capitalism — hence the
cries of “Trust me, this is different.”
Holding the record for the
best-rated game in its genre,
“BioShock” set the bar extremely
high for the new edition, “BioShock Inﬁnite.” The best part is
that reviewers are praising it as
another game of immense political relevance and highly nuanced
story-telling.
“This is the game video
games were made for,” wrote
Steve Farrelly of AusGamers, an
Australian gaming news website.
“It’s a watershed moment for our
industry, and I’d be hard pressed
to tell you that anything that came
before is better.”
It’s a watershed moment because these games will change the
public’s perception of what video
games are and can be.
When it comes down to it, the
“BioShock” series aren’t exactly
the games to begin with, if we can
argue semantics. They don’t have
multiplayer, and the only competitive aspect of the experience
is simply staying alive and doing
well in order to advance the plot,
around which every other aspect
of the experience rotates.
Games like these prove this
medium is entirely capable of producing unique, deep and emotional impacts previously reserved for
books and the ﬁlm industry.
With more 10-out-of-10s
than any game developer could
hope to achieve in a lifetime,
“BioShock Inﬁnite,” tackling
the highly relevant topic of political conservatism, religious
intolerance and racism, will
follow in the footsteps of its predecessor by providing the defense
of the genre gamers have sought
for years.

Clayton Crockett is a 21-year-old
international studies senior from
Lafayette, La.

Contact Clayton Crockett at
news@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @TDR_news

Taylor Schoen
Entertainment Writer

Local fans of Mumford &
Sons can sigh no more — the indie folk band is coming to New
Orleans this June.
The band announced plans
for a summer tour on Monday,
according to a news release.
The Summer Stampede 2013
tour includes a heap of stops
throughout North America, including a gig in New Orleans.
The New Orleans performance will be June 13 at Mardi
Gras World.
Michael Kiwanuka and Mystery Jets will be the supporting
acts for all of Mumford & Sons’
headlining shows.
Tickets will be available
at invitation.mumfordandsons.
com, where fans can register for
an invitation to purchase early
tickets on April 5 for up to ﬁve
shows along the tour, excluding festivals, the news release
said.

Contact Taylor Schoen at
tschoen@lsureveille.com

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The Daily Reveille

page 11

The Daily Reveille

Opinion

page 12

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Republicans need to agree on something to win
THE GEG STAND
MIKE GEGENHEIMER
Sports Contributor
It took 97 pages of research for
Republicans to figure out the GOP
needs a makeover equal to one that
would make Dick Cheney look like
Kate Upton.
In the wake of losing its fifth
presidential popular vote in the past
six election cycles, Republicans finally saw the need to change their
image — if they ever hope to win
back the federal government — and
the recent Republican National Convention “autopsy” report calls for
just that.
Republicans are still pushing
policies like it’s the Reagan era and
hasn’t changed since the former
president was behind the Resolute
Desk 24 years ago.
If you don’t believe me, believe
the Republican focus group that created the report that said the same
thing.
Even the word “conservative”
suggests a resistance to change.
Elected republicans have long
been stereotyped as “out of touch”
and “stuffy, old men.” After nominating John McCain and Mitt Romney in the past two elections, it’s
hard to deny that.
According to the report, public

CHARLES DHARAPAK / The Associated Press

Republicans have been trying to change the party’s face since losing the 2012
presidential election.

perception of the party is at record
lows.
“The Republican Party needs
to stop talking to itself. We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded
people, but devastatingly we have
lost the ability to be persuasive with,
or welcoming to, those who do not
agree with us on every issue,” the
report said.
In the past six presidential elections, four have gone to the Democratic nominee, at an average margin
of 327 electoral votes to 211. During

the preceding two decades, Republicans won five out of six elections,
averaging 417 electoral votes to
Democrats’ 113.
But how does this report suggest Republicans repair their broken
image?
Reduce the number of caucuses
and debates.
Excuse me, what?
So now the RNC doesn’t want a
proper vetting for the possible leader
of the free world? Is it so afraid that
fighting within its own party will
bring down candidates?

The report wants Republicans to water down their campaigns and policies under the
guise of claiming the main problem with is a lack of cohesion
among candidates.
Basically, don’t talk too much
because you might put your foot in
your mouth, or worse, you might
harm the party’s only chance of actually winning the election.
The report also suggests a complete facelift on how to approach
policies during campaigns — something that enraged many staunch
conservatives and will undoubtedly
create more divides.
The main goal of the new policy
push is to create a more inclusive
party — to reach out to minorities
and the LGBT community to prove
Republicans don’t hate them.
This I actually agree with.
According to the report, Americans under 30 have begun using social issues like same-sex marriage as
a sort of litmus test for their votes.
What a shock – Americans
who don’t have much stock in fiscal policy put the majority of their
trust in social issues, and in another
20 years, those same people won’t
switch loyalties.
If Republicans continue to appear to be attacking minorities, soon
no one with a heavy tan will vote for
them.
However, not all right-wingers
stand in line with the harsh report.

On his radio show, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh
claimed the reason for his party’s recent failures has been a lack of conservatism — citing the Tea Party as a
model for the big-party picture.
“They think they’ve gotta rebrand, and it’s all predictable,” Limbaugh said. “They gotta reach out
to minorities. They gotta moderate
their tone here and moderate their
tone there. And that’s not at all what
they’ve gotta do. The Republican
Party lost because it’s not conservative.”
Of course, the man who just
dismissed the need to reach out to
minorities also admits to not having
read the report.
Republicans need a facelift.
Hell, all of Washington needs one.
It’s bad enough that our twoparty system has begun to fail us and
nothing can get done, but now the individual parties can’t even agree on
something.
Maybe that’s what Republicans need to do if they ever want to
win back the White House: actually
agree on something.
Mike
Gegenheimer
is
a
20-year-old mass communication
sophomore from New Orleans.
Contact Mike Gegenheimer at
mgegenheimer@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @gegs1313

Debate over Proposition 8 based on biased agendas
RUN TO THE
MILLS
LANDON MILLS
Columnist
Today, oral arguments will be
heard by the Supreme Court over
California’s Proposition 8 and the
Defense of Marriage Act.
Determining the outcome of
these two is like trying to figure out
what head football coach Les Miles
is going to do when the Tigers are
in a pinch. But to be fair to Miles,
the Supreme Court takes months to
make decisions, not minutes.
Proposition 8 was passed by
the majority of California citizens in
2008 to define marriage as a union
between one man and one woman.
This was met with lawsuits galore,
unsurprisingly, and has resulted in a
long and arduous process of appeals
and claims of unconstitutionality.

The question about Prop 8 is
whether the states have the right to
declare and define marriage how
they want.
Regardless of what the court decides, the case is observably a clash
between legal boundaries and social
sciences. Both sides offered up oral
arguments and briefs for review by
the justices.
The issue presented by conservative professors Leon Kass and
Harvey Mansfield and the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
is “whether the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits the state of California from defining marriage as the union of a man
and a woman.”
The strongest argument made
by Kass and Mansfield is over the
dangerous nature of unreliable expert opinions made by social science
and their threat to the legal system.
Opposition to Proposition 8 will
use ideology masked by science and

inconclusive studies as support for
repealing the law.
“Because it is seldom, if ever,
possible for all relevant data to be accounted for, and thus for all but one
of the logically possible alternatives
to be falsified, scientific theories are
in principle always subject to revision on the basis of new data or better measurements,” the brief states.
We also know social sciences
and their statistics are prone to political milking.
For example, while proponents
of same-sex marriage claim there
is no reason a homosexual couple’s
influence on a child would be negative compared with a heterosexual
couple, there is no empirical evidence and few “statistics” suggesting they would have any benefit to
the child. This is mostly because
same-sex marriage is a relatively
new concept. Traditional marriage,
however, has ample evidence to support its stake both economically and

psychologically on the child, making it a viable case for the state to
consider. California’s voting citizens
recognized this.
Short story: The social sciences
are often riddled with biased political agendas.
Instead of using inconclusive
studies, the court should base its decision off the jurisdiction of the law
and the 14th Amendment’s powers.
For DOMA, there is a challenge
to the federal definition of marriage
between one man and one woman as
well as questions about the jurisdiction of the case. Because the U.S.
government agrees that DOMA is
unconstitutional, the Obama administration has not defended the act.
Since the act’s passing in 1996,
public perception of homosexual
marriage has changed drastically.
Fox News Contributor and former George W. Bush Deputy Chief
of Staff Karl Rove said Sunday he
could see the next GOP presidential

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candidate supporting same-sex marriage in 2016 on ABC’s “This Week”
with George Stephanopoulos. Rove
made that statement based on Ohio
Republican Rob Portman declaring
his support of same-sex marriage.
You can attribute this to the
“GOP” trying to move away from
the old platform and adopt a newer
progressive platform.
I guess the Libertarians had
it right last election. If the conservatives were split between voting
for moderate Mitt Romney, they
might be in shambles when the
GOP picks a nominee supportive of
same-sex marriage.
Landon Mills is a 21-year-old
international studies senior from
Sunshine, La.
Contact Landon Mills at
lmills@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @landondeanmills

Quote of the Day

“Republicans have nothing but
bad ideas, and Democrats have no
ideas.”

Lewis Black
American comedian and author
Aug. 30, 1948 – Present

The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Opinion

page 13

LSU needs a strong leader who will fight to fix budget
BWALLY’S
WORLD
BEN WALLACE
Columnist
The University badly needs a
central leader — an innovator, an
educator and a future legend — and
President Designate F. King Alexander might be just the person it’s
yearning for.
Or he might not.
Either way, LSU needs a permanent chief like a diabetic needs
insulin. Without one, the University’s sour budget situation will only
get worse until one day, this toobig-to-fail institution turns into a
sinking ship rather than a flagship.
Alexander has a good reputation. He seems cool, young and
smart. He smiles as often as possible for a man about to accept a
position that will likely result in his
hair graying before he learns how
to pronounce “Dalrymple.”
But in spite of the University’s
covert presidential search methods,
in which it may or may not have
considered women, minorities or
candidates much better suited for
the job than Alexander, if he’s the
guy, I’ve got his back. And you
should, too.
Interim System President and
Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins
has fulfilled his duty over the past
year — keep the University afloat,
attend countless meetings and
melt crowds with his exotic South
African accent.

RICHARD REDMANN / The Daily Reveille

LSU System President Designate F. King Alexander answers questions March 21 in the Union Theater. Alexander has served as
the president of California State University Long Beach for seven years.

The trouble with the word “interim” is that it implies instability
and uncertainty, creating an atmosphere unfit to produce forward
decision-making and future prosperity.
Alexander, on the other hand,
has held his current position as the
president of California State University Long Beach for a mindboggling seven years.
Take a minute to let that
sink in.

Jenkins hadn’t yet stepped
down from his original stint as the
University’s system president, and
most undergraduate students were
in middle school. Some hadn’t even
had recess taken away yet.
Jenkins came back to LSU after it burned through two chancellors and fired a president. But he
only did it as an emergency leader,
per se.
Throughout LSU’s leadership
turmoil, Alexander has held the

same job — at the same place.
We
need
a
consistent
commander to help lead the University to the promised land, or at
least a time when budget cuts won’t
dominate the news cycle.
Alexander’s relative youth is
exciting. We haven’t had a chancellor without gray hair this millennium.
A former college basketball
player, Alexander has been seen
playing pickup ball with students

in California.
Can you imagine Jenkins,
in his mid-’70s, competing in
anything more physically exerting
than a round of golf or a tussle with
his grandkids?
Granted, being physically fit,
or young for that matter, doesn’t really play into the decision of who
will lead a University. And as I
mentioned before, Jolly Jenkins has
done everything he was asked to do
since he accepted the mentally and
somewhat physically demanding
job of president-chancellor last fall.
Still, I can’t contain myself —
how cool would it be to “school”
the chancellor?
I haven’t hit a jump shot in
years — the basket might as well
be the size of a peppermint. But I
could still enjoy a casual chat while
shooting some hoops with the University’s boss-man.
Nobody can predict how he’ll
fare if officially appointed to lead
the University sometime in the near
future.
But if students want the best
education possible, they should
support their leaders, just as leaders
should embrace their students.
Mr. Alexander, welcome to
Baton Rouge, unofficially.
Ben Wallace is a 21-year-old
mass communication senior from
Tyler, Texas.
Contact Ben Wallace at
bwallace@lsureveille.com;
Twitter: @_benwallace

Bayou Corne sinkhole is a long-term problem
THE
TRADITIONALIST
CHRIS ORTTE
Columnist
In case anyone was still wondering, the sinkhole in Bayou
Corne — now approximately 10
acres — continues to swallow surrounding lands. So far, there’s no
end in sight.
What’s going on in Bayou
Corne is somewhat similar to
the 1980 Lake Peigneur incident
when an oil rig drilled through the
Jefferson Island salt mine, draining the lake, taking the rig and a
few barges all in a couple of minutes. However, maybe today’s
sinkhole did not have such an immediate wowing effect, but it has
developed to be a more long-term
and complicated catastrophe.
Of course, the major problem
is the fact that the earth is caving
in, but what may be more lethal is
the apparent presence of hydrogen
sulfide, an explosive gas.
Small earthquakes or tremors
have occurred in the thousands
since August because of the void
in the salt dome.

photo courtesy of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

This aerial photograph shows the 10-acre Bayou Corne sinkhole. The sinkhole is
swallowing surrounding lands and poses the threat of explosive gas.

Consequently, the natural gas
has begun to leak up through the
formation making the surrounding atmosphere dangerous. Texas
Brine LLC, the corporation at
fault, has established vents to burn
off the gas, but it is unclear how
much gas is really left.
Texas Brine has been the only
corporation held accountable, and
as of today, its attempts have not
done much to stop this widening
earthly orifice.
What residents have come

to fear most is the establishment
of the area as a “sacrifice zone,”
which would result in their permanent removal — something that
seems all too common in Cajun
history.
Texas Brine has been paying
affected residents $875 a week,
but since no permanent fix of
the hole seems to be in the making, it is apparent these residents
need to be compensated enough to
enable them to move on. Residents
have been seeking more long-term

compensation for means to reestablish themselves elsewhere.
They should be getting it soon, as
Gov. Bobby Jindal finally began
putting pressure on Texas Brine.
This is where things always
get interesting and draw more attention — corporate buyouts or
lawsuits and settlements.
Texas Brine has been charged
with resolving the problem and
has been under strict scrutiny by
Louisiana officials. Fines and penalties have been issued swiftly to
Texas Brine on the occasions they
have failed to obey directives.
The Office of Conservation
has kept the most watchful eye,
monitoring subsurface activity
and keeping locals up to date on
the levels of dangerous natural
gases. The Assumption Parish Police Jury maintains a daily blog
that posts the most recent updates
including periodic flyovers of the
sinkhole.
This has been a long and lingering issue in Louisiana.
I don’t mean to harp and
complain that nothing has been
or is being done or that the sinkhole does not get enough attention. Of course our public officials
acknowledge the severity of the

situation, and experts are at work,
but this situation is complicated.
Because of the lack of a precedent, it cannot be a quick fix.
It is a dismal situation as of
now, mainly because of its uniqueness — as it has been noted that
such a sinkhole has not occurred
anywhere else in the world. Since
there has not been a precedent to
approach these circumstances,
much of what is being done is all
of calculated estimates, probing
through different measures to a
resolution.
Unfortunately, I would expect this issue to be drawn out for
many years. Maybe the sinkhole
will be maintained, but I do not
see residents being allowed back
into the zone for a long time, and
I anticipate battles in court to last
years, possibly decades.
Chris Ortte is 22-year-old
political
science
senior
from Lafayette.

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The Daily Reveille

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
WARRIOR, from page 9

to help women feel beautiful and
improve their body positivity. Each
woman is asked to prepare a “beauty
declaration,” a statement of a time
when they feel most beautiful, and
then she captures that scenario.
Brandabur’s beauty declaration
was, “I feel beautiful when I sweat,”
so she did some pushups and photographed herself glistening with
perspiration.
Laura Johnson, mathematics junior, shared her beauty declaration.
“My beauty declaration was,
‘I feel beautiful when I dress up for
myself,’” Johnson said in a Facebook message to The Daily Reveille. “I personally don’t like to get
fancy with makeup and hairdo’s
every day, but when I do decide to
go all out with my appearance, I feel
like I’m treating myself because I’m
someone special.”
Johnson confessed she almost
canceled her photo shoot because of
a pimple. However, she realized she
would be limiting her beauty potential by arbitrary societal standards.
Instead, she decided to embrace her
own beauty standards.
Brandabur was inspired to start
the project after her own battle with

TRAILER HOUNDS, from page 9

major changes.
The band was just a threepiece until Lyle ofﬁcially joined
just a few weeks ago. Holden and
Desselle had known each other
for years, and with the addition
of Guillot, Trailer Hounds was
formed. But Lyle’s arrival brought

photo courtesy of COURTNEY BRANDABUR

Laura Johnson, mathematics junior, participated in “Girl Warrior” by declaring
she feels beautiful when she dresses up for herself.

negative body image.
“I see a counselor here at the
health center, and I started seeing
her because I was having these selfesteem problems, and a lot of it was
based around my appearance,” she
said.
She said her counselor advised
her to keep a journal that helped her
to get a handle on her insecurities.
She said she could deﬁne her beauty

on her own terms, and it felt powerful. She realized the pain she had endured and knew other women were
also suffering, so she wanted to do
something to empower others.
Brandabur hosts weekly chat
sessions at Highland Coffees with
her army of girl warriors to learn
about women’s body image experiences and stories.
She said she’s connected with

a new edge to the band’s sound —
a more “poppy feeling,” Desselle
called it.
Sticking to that poppy-funk
vibe, Trailer Hounds is heavily inﬂuenced by music from Lettuce and Soulive — “Ziggowatt”
and “One in Seven” are covers
most commonly heard at Trailer
Hounds’ shows. The band also

plays original material.
The band’s name is an ode to
Desselle’s dog, Lucy. Lately, the
members of Trailer Hounds have
been incorporating her image into
ideas for future band merchandise.
What’s next for Trailer
Hounds?
“The sky is the limit,”
Desselle said.

page 15
about 30 women so far, and her project isn’t even a month old yet.
Psychology senior Jodi Shipley
said in a Facebook message to The
Daily Reveille that she participated
in the project “because self-love and
empowerment are both crucial to
promoting positive body image and
ultimately loving ourselves.”
Brandabur said she’s delighted
the project has taken off so quickly,
but also disappointed that there is
still such a great need to promote
body positivity among women.
“It’s a beautiful sadness, you
know? It’s beautiful that we’re coming together now and we’re able to
tell each other our stories, but it’s
deﬁnitely sad that we’re all in pain,”
Brandabur said.
Brandabur plans to expand her
project into a student organization
in the future, but wants to expand
slowly so her message doesn’t get
altered or tainted due to the bureaucratic process.
More
information
about
the project can be found at
girlwarrior.org.

Contact Taylor Schoen at
tschoen@lsureveille.com
You can catch Trailer Hounds
on Wednesday at The Library.
Its music can be accessed on
ReverbNation.com and Facebook.

Contact Rebecca Docter at
rdocter@lsureveille.com

‘GIRLS,’ from page 9

rupturing her eardrums with Q-tips
— she would (gasp) get a real job.
That’s the thing that probably
confuses and frustrates me the most
about “Girls” — why do absolutely
none of the characters have actual
career aspirations? And why aren’t
they doing anything about it?
In addition, nearly every character on “Girls” is indecently arrogant — so arrogant, in fact, that it
becomes difﬁcult to feel sorry when
a character has a crisis (which is all
too common on the show).
This brings me back to my main
point — why are we so obsessed
with “Girls”?
Maybe we watch “Girls” because we’re happy our lives aren’t
as seemingly bad as Hannah and
company’s. Maybe the surprising
amount of cringe-worthy awkwardness the show brings just makes us
rejoice that certain moments in our
lives really aren’t all that embarrassing. Maybe we’re watching “Girls”
because we get some sort of sick fulﬁllment from thinking our lives are
better than those of the characters.
That being said, I don’t think
“Girls” is necessarily bad. It’s an entertaining way to spend half an hour
on a Sunday evening, but it isn’t
something the world should think
too hard about.
Rebecca Docter is a 19-year-old
mass communication freshman from
Brandon, Miss.